


Chase Forever Down

by Batsutousai



Category: British Actor RPF, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mortality, Thor 2 Spoilers, Top Tom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-12
Updated: 2013-12-12
Packaged: 2018-01-04 11:04:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1080272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Batsutousai/pseuds/Batsutousai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After two years of war and distrust, Loki can finally return home. If only the peace he'd once found there wasn't so ruined by his time spent away.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Chase Forever Down

**Author's Note:**

> **Disclaim Her:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Marvel. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. The character of Thomas "Tom" Hiddleston is based on a real person, and no offence is intended; this is only for the amusement of myself and other like-minded (read: mentally ill) fans.
> 
>  **A/N:** This fic has gone back and forth between being part of a challenge, and being a normal one-shot a few times, now. Each time I thought it would fit the challenge, it showed me up. (Damn you, fic.)
> 
> A lot of this follows on the assumption that Loki's comment to Odin about Æsir living 5,000 years means they don't have some magical golden apples to keep them alive forever, only that their lifespan is much, _much_ longer than ours.

It had been a long two years of war and the nightmare of trying to lead a people that wanted him dead through the mouth of a brother who couldn't seem to decide whether to trust him or not. Loki had returned with the expectation that Thor would undermine his directions, so hadn't been the least surprised when the newly-crowned king had done so multiple times over the first six months, before finally realising that Loki was _actually_ on his side against Thanos and wasn't trying to cripple the war efforts with his suggestions, no matter how much they might sound like that to begin. 

Not that Thor listening to him suddenly made everything go perfectly. They began having more obvious victories in skirmishes, certainly, but Thanos' far superior numbers made such victories little worth mentioning. What Thor listening to him did, was allow Loki to give his suggestions from a distance, while he searched for allies against the Mad Titan in the farthest reaches of the universe. 

Two months after he returned with them, they took Thanos' seat of power and had him in chains. Which didn't mean the war was over, because his followers didn't let his absence keep them from the war they'd started, but it did put an end to the brilliance of their movements. So what almost certainly would have taken upwards of two years, they were able to clean up within a year. 

When they were finally able to sit down at a table together and breathe, without fear of interruption about an update from the front, Thor considered Loki with eyes wizened by two years spent defending the Nine Realms against someone far more monstrous than Loki had ever been. Loki just stared back, waiting for Thor to dismiss him so he could finally go _home_. If he hadn't needed to make certain Thor wasn't going to send the army after him to finish serving out Odin's punishment, he would have left before the funerals. 

"You've changed," were not the words he'd expected to come from Thor's mouth first, but there you go. 

Loki glanced down at his hands, conjuring a blade to play with between them. "Yes, Thor," he remarked drily. "That's what happens after you've spent two years defending a people who hate you." 

Thor snorted and slouched in his chair. "They don't hate you, Brother." 

Loki eyed him disbelievingly. "You're not that naïve." 

"They don't," Thor insisted, then shrugged. "Given, they don't much like you, but they're not of a mind to hunt you down and slaughter you." 

"And you?" Loki snapped, because he had no interest in debating with Thor about whether Asgard honestly wanted him dead or not. 

Thor seemed to consider that for a moment before shrugging the question away. "Where have you been? I know you looked after Asgard while Father was ill–"

"That was not _illness_ ," Loki snarled. He'd been convinced Odin had died of a broken heart, but the bastard had simply wanted a holiday. When he'd realised it was Loki returned from Svartálfaheimr and not the guard he'd sent after his sons, he'd put his plan into action. _Why_ he'd decided to leave Asgard to Loki, the sorcerer couldn't say, but he had. And as soon as Loki discovered the treachery, he'd fled to avoid the death Frigga was no longer alive to protect him from. He'd honestly never intended to return, but Thor's plea had mentioned Thanos, and Loki had by then found something worth fighting for. 

"Illness enough," Thor returned with impossible patience. "I know you were here – Father told me as such – but you vanished beyond Heimdall's gaze when you left. I did not know whether my missive would even reach you." 

"Clearly it did." 

Thor sighed. "Must I _order_ you to tell me, Brother?" 

Loki snarled and pointed his knife at the blond. "What gives you the belief that a _fugitive_ would listen–"

"Do you believe yourself to be such still?" Thor asked, head tilted slightly to one side. "Loki, my Head Advisor and Crown Prince can hardly be a _fugitive_."

Loki's breath caught and he shoved out of his chair to keep from screaming. "No," he said, forcing his voice calm. 

Thor's expression was more confused than unimpressed, but he still appeared too much like Odin, and Loki had to turn away. "No what?" 

"No, I will not serve your whims!" Loki snarled, stalking away from the table and turning back to wave his knife at his brother. "I will not allow you to chain me to these walls, as your father would have to the cells under our feet!" 

Thor blinked. "Is that what you think of me? That I want you imprisoned again?" 

" _Don't you_?!"

Thor shook his head. "No." He sighed and rubbed at his eyes, looking so much more tired than Odin ever had. "I cannot rule the Realms alone, Brother." 

"So get a wife!" 

"I have a wife," Thor replied drily. He took a moment to observe Loki's shocked expression before murmuring, "You didn't know. Where have you _been_ , Loki?" 

"Who is it?" Loki demanded, ignoring the question again. "Is it that _mortal_ you were so taken with?" 

Thor shrugged and nodded. 

Loki let out a laugh to hide how much that turned his universe on its side. "Oh, I'm certain the AllFather reacted well to _that_."

Thor sighed. "We fought, yes, but he came to accept Jane as my choice." He shook his head. "Even if he had not, it would hardly matter now, would it?" 

"Oh, how perfectly devious of you, Brother," Loki mocked. "And when she dies? Will you then move on to yet another mortal, or will you spend the rest of your days mourning her like some–"

"She won't." 

Loki fixed Thor with an unimpressed stare. "What a pretty world your imagination is." 

Thor rubbed his eyes. "Bruce created a serum to extend the lives of mortals. There are what he calls 'side-effects', but it is viable. Jane would not take it while she was with child, but it will have been born by now. I need only return to Midgard to collect her and the child." 

Loki stared at him for a long moment before quietly asking, "What side effects?" 

Thor's eyes narrowed, overprotective nature turning him suspicious. "Why do you ask, Loki? Have you some pranks fuelled by cruelty in mind for your new sister?" 

Loki waved that away. "Were you not the one just naming me Head Advisor? Answer the question, Thor." 

Thor held his silence until Loki had dropped back into his chair with an irritated huff. Only then did Thor sigh and look down at his hands, "She will have no further children, for it will..." He frowned heavily. " 'Ravage her system', Bruce said." 

Loki considered that for a moment, did some quick magical figuring in his head, then shrugged. "Depending on the severity of this 'ravaging', there may be spells to reverse the damage." 

Thor straightened, his eyes going wide with hope. "Truly?" 

Loki shrugged. "I would have to look into it further, and a healer may yet contradict me, but I believe so." He watched Thor's happiness for a moment before demanding, "What else?" 

"What?" 

"You said side effect _s_. Plural. Meaning more than one." 

"Ah." Thor nodded. "Bruce believes there may be some loss of memory, but nothing so severe that Jane's...dairy?" 

"Diary," Loki corrected drily. 

Thor nodded his thanks. "Diary cannot assist her in relearning. And some illness, for the same cause as her inability to bear further children." His expression turned considering. "You've been on Midgard." 

Loki forced himself to do no more than raise an eyebrow at his brother in response. 

Thor smiled. "You know what a diary is, Brother." 

Loki snorted. "As though mortals are the first to start recording their private thoughts in little books with locks on them." 

Thor nodded, still smiling. "Humans are the only ones to call them diaries." 

Loki bit his tongue to keep from cursing. 

Thor leaned forward against the table. "Who is she?" 

"There is no she," Loki snarled. 

Thor sighed. "Must you always lie, Brother?" 

"I'm not _lying_ ," Loki snapped, crossing his arms in front of himself. " _Thomas_ is hardly a 'she'." 

Both of Thor's eyebrows went up. "Indeed," he murmured to himself before asking, "And where is this Thomas? I cannot imagine you would find someone who lived so quiet a life, I heard nothing of you for nearly five years." 

Loki scowled. "He is on an alternate Midgard. And, yes," he added before Thor could ask, "he knows who I am _and_ my crimes." 

"You're pardoned," Thor pointed out, as though he believed Loki needed reminding. 

"Clearly." 

Thor nodded. "I would request this potion from Bruce for you, if that is your price to remain in Asgard." 

"My _price_ ," Loki returned coolly, "is not so easily decided." 

"You mean it's not yours to decide." 

Loki waved that away and stood again. "Are we through? Am I given leave to disappear without fear of an army breathing down my neck within a month?" 

Thor sighed and shook his head. "May I make a last request, if you truly wish to leave without returning for a mortal lifetime." 

Loki forcefully suppressed his flinch. " _What_?"

Thor stood himself, hands dropping tiredly to his sides. "It is not wise to leave Hliðskjálf empty so soon after this war, but I need to retrieve Jane. Will you keep it in my absence?" 

"Will you _trust_ it to me?" Loki returned, tone cruel. 

Thor stared at him for a long, silent moment, seemingly looking deep into Loki's soul. It made him uncomfortable to have such a look from his brother, but he refused to back down. He would _not_ cower in Thor's shadow. 

Thor smiled then, as though he had read Loki's very thoughts, rather than the hostility he was funnelling through his every pore. "I will." 

"You are a _fool_."

"Perhaps," Thor agreed with a slight nod. "But I think, Brother, that you wish to return to your Thomas far more than you wish to keep the throne." 

Loki turned away with a snarl. "Fool." 

Thor stepped up behind him and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "I'll be back within a week. I swear." 

"Do as you please," Loki returned, shrugging his hand away. "Norns know you always do anyway." 

Thor sighed and left the room, shaking his head. 

Loki stared after him for a long moment before spinning and throwing a handful of knives against the back of the chair Thor had been sitting in, clustering them where his head would have been. Oh, it was _just_ like Thor to put his wishes above Loki's. 

_'Stop,'_ a voice echoed in his mind; a reminder of a conversation long passed. _'Take a step outside of your own feelings. Look at everything from someone else's perspective. Stop focussing on **yourself** for two minutes. I love you, but you are painfully narrow-minded when you think you've been slighted. This isn't about **you** right now, Loki.'_

Thor had no assurance Loki would return in time for his wife to still be alive, and he couldn't force her to travel Bifröst with a child, not with as little experience with it as she had. And it was _very_ true that leaving Asgard without a king for even a day was a danger to the Realms. Leaving them with a king they didn't _trust_ wasn't much better, but at least Loki could control their people with the threat of magic, if not the loyalty that should be his due. 

Thor was putting his wishes to visit his wife above Loki's wishes to see his lover, yes, but he was also promising a century of him leaving Loki to his life without interruption, save another massive war or invasion. 

"Damn you, Thomas," he whispered to his absent lover and his ever-present wisdom before vanishing the knives and leaving to find the Warriors Three and Sif; he would need their support, however grudgingly given, if he hoped to have any hold over Asgard's battle-weary army while Thor was away. (If he was lucky, which he often wasn't, Thor would already have given them orders to back Loki.) 

-0-

Asgard was grudgingly willing to listen to Loki, which turned slightly less grudging when he dealt with some marauders hoping to get lucky with the swift, decisive brutality everyone had expected of Odin. 

It was probably the least trying experience he'd ever had as Asgard's king, but he still wasted no time in handing the throne back to Thor when he returned, wife and son in tow. 

"Oh dear Norns, you really have procreated," Loki commented when he saw the toddler. "Excuse me as I escape before it brings the entirety of the city down around us." 

"And here I thought that was your M.O.," Jane returned sharply as she cuddled her child closer to her chest. 

"Jane," Thor murmured before turning beseeching eyes on Loki. "Won't you greet your nephew properly before you leave?" 

Loki snarled in irritation, but came over as requested and held his hands out for the child. Jane looked very much like she would prefer not to hand him over, but Loki just kept staring at her while Thor whispered assurance in her ear. 

"His name is Magni," Jane said as she handed him over. 

Loki rolled his eyes even as he carefully settled the child in his arms. "Be glad my brother didn't insist on Bor. Or _Odin_."

"Father was still alive when Magni was born," Thor pointed out helpfully. 

Loki shot him an unimpressed look, only to get hit by Magni, who then proceeded to chide him with an approximation of words he'd clearly heard on Midgard. 

Thor, the unhelpful brute, roared with laughter, while his wife flushed and held her arms out. "I'm sorry. I don't know where he's picked up those bad habits..." 

"I can guess," Loki replied drily before nudging his nose against the child's. "That's quite enough of that. You're a prince now – Norns save us – and you will behave like one." 

Magni blew a raspberry in Loki's face, then giggled. 

"Much obliged," he told the child before looking back at Thor and Jane, to find Jane giving Thor a wide-eyed look. "Don't look so surprised, Lady Jane; your mythology was true in giving me children." 

Jane processed that for a moment, then shoved a finger into Thor's chest and snapped, "You acted as though you'd never held a baby before!" 

"He hasn't," Loki offered before his brother could try and explain himself in his usual bumbling fashion. "Sleipnir's the only one of my children who's ever seen Asgard, and he was never quite a proper shape for holding." He snorted. "Volstagg, for all his many, _many_ faults–"

" _Loki_ ," Thor chided. 

"Woki," Magni repeated in the same tone. 

Loki shifted the toddler so he could tickle Magni's belly, bringing him to squeal with glee. "Volstagg never trusted Thor to keep from dropping any of his spawn, given how he was usually at least two pints in by the time he saw them. And that's _Uncle_ Woki to you, wretch," he added to his nephew as he stopped tickling him. 

Magni babbled at him and smacked his chest a couple times before letting out a yawn. 

"Hm. Perhaps time for a nap," Loki suggested as he handed the child back to Jane's waiting arms. 

Jane smiled and kissed her son's head. "We'll find you a crib soon," she promised him before looking back up at Loki. "You've raised children before, then? Uhm, your sort of children?" 

Loki tilted his head and eyed the child. "You refer to his non-human biology?" he assumed. 

Jane sighed and nodded. "Yeah. He's developing much slower than human children, in some ways, but faster in others. His doctor was concerned, but Bruce thought it might have been because he's not fully human." 

Loki shrugged. "From my experience with human children – of which I've only known two, so I am hardly an expert – Æsir children tend to develop their strength almost twice as fast as humans, but are about on par in terms of motor skills. Mental and language skills are not the forte of the Æsir–"

"Here we go again," Thor muttered. 

Loki pointed a finger at him. "My children were all at least half-Jötunn, explaining their early brilliance." 

"And here I thought it was just because they had _you_ for their father." 

Loki smirked. "Well, if you insist." 

"Boys," Jane interrupted, lightly smacking Thor's arm. "Honestly. Help me put Magni down and then introduce me to your healers. You can continue this pissing contest later." 

Thor's expression fell. "Loki's not staying that long." 

Jane narrowed her eyes at her husband. "You said you weren't kicking him out of Asgard." 

"I'm not." 

Jane looked towards Loki, then, confused. "Please don't think I want you–"

Loki waved a hand at her. "Lady Jane, your dislike of me would only make me more determined to stay, believe me. No, I have other matters to attend to." He raised an eyebrow at Thor. "While your discretion is both a surprise and a pleasure, Thor, it was hardly necessary in regards to your own _wife_."

Thor grimaced. "I had other things on my mind." 

"Hm. Yes, I suppose there is rather limited room up there." 

Thor snorted, clearly more resigned than angered by the slight to his intelligence, and stepped forward to cup the back of Loki's neck. "Know you are always welcome to return, Brother. With or without–"

"I spoke too soon of discretion," Loki interrupted, trying to pull away. "Good _bye_ , Th–"

Thor pulled him into a proper hug, rather than the warrior hug that had become so familiar once the elder had reached puberty and decided it was improper. "I'll miss you, Loki," he whispered into Loki's hair. "Whether you're gone but two days, or an entire century." 

Loki closed his eyes and allowed himself to relax into the long-missed contact, at least for a moment. But then he tugged away, putting on a scowl that wouldn't fool his brother for a second, but should fool the watching guards and Jane. "Stop _grabbing_ me, you ugly brute." 

Thor smiled, waving away Jane's indignant noise. "Goodbye, Brother. For a time." 

Loki sketched a formal bow. "AllFather. AllMother. Prince Magni," he intoned before teleporting himself to the small portion of boulder peeking out above the ocean before it fell away into the Void. It was the spot in Asgard where the barrier between realities was the thinnest. He suspected it had been left there by Thor's destruction of Bifröst, one of the shards tearing a hole where there hadn't been one before, but it was nearly as likely to have been there all along, yet unnoticed simply because only fools stood this close to the Void. (And Loki hadn't been quite so much a fool before he'd fallen into the Void and tasted its horrors.) 

A whispered spell let him step through the thin barrier without further damaging it, leaving him hanging helplessly above this reality's Void. 

There was no Asgard here, only the broken branches of what had tried to be Yggdrasil, before some calamity left this reality with only Midgard and the broken shells of Realms that Loki knew as Niflheim and Múspellsheimr. Svartálfaheimr, the third of the Realms to join to Midgard in Loki's own reality, had never grown, suggesting when the calamity had struck, if not why or what it had been. 

He took a moment to stare into the abyss gaping beneath him, then grabbed for the nearest ruined branch of Yggdrasil before the gravity of his native reality could finish dissipating, leaving him to plummet back into the horrors he'd already suffered once. He jumped between the branches, taking care to never force one to support him for too long, lest it finally fall to dust and deny him the chance to return to his own reality. 

Midgard sat in the middle of the branches, at the very heart of the dying tree, and it reached out to catch him when he leapt for it, determined to preserve whatever life it should sense outside itself. As he passed through the magical barriers, Loki turned himself invisible to keep from startling any mortals near wherever Midgard put him. 

He needn't have bothered, as it turned out, for this Midgard knew exactly where he needed to be, depositing him in an undignified lump in the middle of his and Thomas' living room. 

Thomas and Emma were sitting on the couch together, and they both jumped at the noise. Then Thomas carefully reached with his foot. "Loki?" 

"Your planet is _rude_ ," Loki complained as he simultaneously removed his invisibility and changed his Asgardian garments for the comfortable clothing Thomas had eventually got him to try wearing. 

Thomas breathed a laugh and jumped off the couch to help Loki up. "I've missed you," he whispered once Loki was standing, arms wrapped around Thomas' waist, while the mortal's arms draped around his shoulders. 

"He's been a right _girl_ about it, too," Emma crowed. 

"Hit her with a pillow," Thomas ordered before sealing his mouth over Loki's. 

Loki directed his magic to do so as he sunk into Thomas' warmth, drawing shrieks of, "Cheat! You're both absolute _cheats_ , you pricks!" from the couch. 

Thomas laughed into Loki's mouth before pulling away to look at his sister. "You can go home anytime, you know. They won't follow you out the front door." 

"So says _you_ ," Emma shot back as she got a good hold on one of the pillows and used it to beat the other one back. "Loki, you _tit_. Call this bloody thing off so I can get my things." 

"Always with the name-calling," Loki commented as he ended the spell. "I'd almost think you missed me." 

Emma rolled her eyes and jumped to her feet. She tugged on Thomas' shirt until, grinning, he pulled away from Loki. She jumped into his arms then, laughing as Loki obediently swung her around. (They'd got drunk together – or, well, Emma had got drunk, while Loki got a little tipsy, because mortal alcohol was _weak_ – at one point, when Thomas had been out of the country on a publicity tour and she'd just broken up with her boyfriend. She'd admitted that she really missed getting spun around like a little girl by her father. Thomas could do it, but he rarely did, for fear of hurting one of them, or breaking something. Loki didn't share those fears, trusting his preternatural strength to support her without straining him, and his magic to shift objects out of the way.) 

When Loki set Emma down, she hugged him tight, pressing her face to his chest and whole body giving a great shudder. 

Loki looked to Thomas even as he hugged her back, alarmed. Thomas sighed and stepped forward to rub his sister's back. "I told everyone you had to return to help with a war." He looked away. "It got a little hard to believe you were okay when we still hadn't heard anything after the first year." 

Loki tugged Thomas forward to lean against his side. "I'm sorry," he whispered to his lover. "I couldn't chance anyone finding the passage between our realities." He pulled back and gave Thomas a wide-eyed look. "With our luck, Emma would end up getting deflowered by a _skrull_."

Emma hit him, letting out a helpless laugh. "I've already _been_ deflowered." 

Thomas let out a disbelieving noise. "What? _No_! Point me to the man and I'll duel him to win back my sister's honour!" 

Emma hit Thomas and pulled away, surreptitiously wiping at her eyes. "Oh, you are a _complete_ fuck, Tom. Just for that, I'm taking the film with me." 

Thomas snorted and kissed Loki's jaw. "S'ok. I'm not going to be watching it, anyway." 

"Yeah, you're going to be rechristening every room in the house. Make sure you ring Luke to cancel your interview tomorrow." 

Thomas groaned. "Fuck. I forgot." 

" _Almost_ forgot," Emma corrected as she snapped the blu-ray case closed and hit the power button on the player. "You're welcome." 

Thomas kissed Loki's jaw again, then pulled away to search the couch cushions for his mobile. "Yeah, thanks. I hope he understands..." 

Loki rolled his eyes and grabbed Thomas' mobile off the coffee table, then tossed it onto the cushion he was feeling around under. "He'll almost certainly blame me." 

"You make an _excellent_ scapegoat," Emma agreed cheerfully, grabbing Loki's arm and tugging him towards the door while Thomas mumbled a distracted, "Thanks," as he pulled up his contacts. "Come on. Tom got me a new car for my birthday and promised you'd put a protection spell on it for me again." 

Loki rolled his eyes, but followed her out to the drive, where a bright red car sat. "Really? You want me to protect _this_?"

Emma flashed him a smile as she clicked her remote to unlock the doors. "And like it. It's your punishment for missing my birthday. _Twice_."

"You're going to milk this, aren't you?" he wondered rhetorically as he stepped around the back to open the boot. He sat inside it and pulled the lid back down towards him, conjuring a knife to carve the runes he needed to anchor the spell into the plastic. 

"Absolutely," Emma agreed as she ducked under the half-open lid to sit down next to him. "Am I in the way?" 

"No." Loki eyed the plastic for a moment before he started carving. "How is he? Truly." 

Emma sighed and glanced down to where she was playing with something in her lap. "He seems okay, I think. He's been keeping busy." 

"How busy?" Loki demanded, because his idiot human had worked himself sick twice in the four years they'd been together, before the war. 

Emma snorted. "Luke is terrified of you, you realise. He's been cancelling things if Tom so much as _coughs_."

"So the mortal is trainable after all," Loki mused. 

Emma groaned and dropped her head against his shoulder carefully, as though to keep from jarring his knife. "You really are the worst." 

"And yet, here I am, casting protective spells on your red abomination." 

"That's a punishment. Git." 

Loki chuckled. 

Emma was quiet for a long moment, just watching him work, before she asked, "Are _you_ okay?" 

Loki considered that as he finished the last rune, then vanished the knife and brushed his finger over the runes, smoothing the sharp edges. "I don't know," he finally admitted. 

"Did you make up with Thor?" 

Loki cast her a glance. "Thomas told you about that?" 

She rolled her eyes. "Like he's the only one who thinks you need to smooth things over with your own _brother_. God, Loki. You're so thick sometimes." 

"What's that saying? You can't teach an old dog new tricks." 

She sighed and leaned more of her weight against him. "You're not a dog." 

"Right now." 

"And you're not _that_ old," Emma added, ignoring him. "Not compared to how your people age, right?" 

Loki stared at the runes, something tight making it hard to swallow. Oh, Norns. _Dammit, Thor._ He'd been perfectly happy ignoring Thomas' mortality, and then his _fucking_ brother had to wave his newly immortal wife in front of Loki's nose. 

Emma twisted around so she could look up at him, expression twisted with concern. "Loki?" 

"No," he got out, voice cracking. He cleared his throat. "No, I'm just past a third of my lifespan." 

"Are you okay?" 

Loki pushed the boot open and stood before holding a hand down to help her out, pasting on an irritated expression. "Come on. I need to cast this spell, which means you need to be out." 

She let him pull her out, a concerned crease shadowing the area between her eyebrows. Still, she got out of his way without pressing him further, which he appreciated. 

He always made his spells a little flashier than they needed to be for her, simply because he knew she enjoyed the extra effort. He considered changing the colour of the car, just for his own amusement, but decided he would rather she leave than complain about it. "There," he said once the spell had settled into place. "One protection spell for your new monstrosity." 

Emma smiled and hugged him tight. "Thanks, Loki." As she pulled away, she glanced towards the front door, and Loki looked up to find Thomas standing there with a faint smile. "Bye, Tom! I'll drop back by in a couple days, so please get the ground floor christenings out of the way first!" 

"We'll save the kitchen for last!" Thomas called back as Loki walked over to join him. He slipped his arm around Loki's waist and pulled him close as Emma got in her car and started it up. They waved her off, then returned to the house together. 

As soon as the door was closed, Thomas caught Loki's face between his hands and asked, "What's wrong?" 

Loki debating waving him off before shaking his head; Thomas had always been a master at catching him in a lie. "What gave me away?" 

Concern darkened Thomas' usually bright eyes. "You didn't change the colour of her car." 

"Ah." Loki pushed past Thomas' grip and pressed their foreheads together. "It's just been a very long two years." 

Thomas searched his eyes, thumbs rubbing circles against his nape. "Okay," he murmured. "I'll accept that, for now." 

Loki closed his eyes, hands tugging gently to get Thomas to walk closer to him. 

Thomas let out an amused huff. "Clingy." 

"Missed you," Loki whispered, voice catching. He didn't want to think about Asgard, or about life without his mortal. 

Thomas pressed a gentle kiss to his lips before gently tugging Loki away from the door. "Let's go upstairs. Get the lock?" 

Loki shot a quick spell behind him to lock the door and followed Thomas upstairs to their bedroom. It hadn't changed a bit in the two years he'd been away, which was nothing but a relief. He took a moment to walk around the room, fingering the hanger with Thomas' ties that was on the door of the wardrobe. He'd traded a few out for the ones he kept stashed away during off-seasons, and there were two that Loki had never seen before, but that really seemed to be the only change. 

Loki didn't doubt that, if he looked deeper, went through drawers and through the wardrobe, he'd find new clothing to replace older things that had worn out, or because someone had bought it while Loki was gone. He was sure he'd find new watches in the drawer Thomas kept them hidden in, and new scarves for Thomas to wrap around Loki's neck when the weather got cold. (He insisted it made him feel cold to watch Loki walking around in his average clothing, but the scarf helped. Loki suspected he really just liked the god in scarves.) 

Thomas had stayed standing in the doorway while Loki made his circuit, and he finally moved into the room when Loki glanced back at him. "What do you want? Cuddling until we fall asleep, or sex?" 

Loki snapped his fingers, baring them both. " _You_ ," he insisted, because he really didn't care what they did, so long as he could lose himself in Thomas and forget about everything else for a while. 

Thomas' responding smile was full of understanding and he pulled down the sheets for them to slide under. "Come here," he ordered as Loki got in. Loki did, wrapping his arms around Thomas and pulling them tight together while Thomas cupped his cheek. "Talk to me. Anything." 

Loki took a moment to think back on what he could talk about, before recalling a brief glance he'd got of the neighbour's additions to her front garden in the past two years, which were all – as per usual – _hideous_. So he started going off about those, until Thomas was laughing helplessly, face hidden against Loki's shoulder as he described, in vivid detail, how he'd like to rip out every bejewelled petal on the waist-height rose she'd set up next to her front stoop, then toss the – almost certainly fake – jewels at her windows until she came out to scream at him, waving her cane. 

"Oh, God, how could I _possibly_ have forgotten what an arse you are?" Thomas gasped against his throat. 

"Selective memory." Loki rubbed gently at the small of his back and glanced at the clock with bright green numbers – they'd been red when Loki had first moved in – making note of the time. "Are you hungry?" 

Thomas hummed and lifted his head back to his pillow, smiling as he traced the edge of Loki's cheekbone with his thumb. "Not particularly. Emma and I caught a late lunch, though. Maybe in an hour." 

Loki considered that, then nodded. "Tell me what I've missed?" 

Thomas smiled and moved his fingers down to trace Loki's lips as he complied. His voice and the light touches were a balm, soothing away all the stress of two years of war. 

-0-

"Will you tell me what's really bothering you, yet?" Thomas asked when he brought the food they'd ordered over to the table. He'd slipped on a pair of trousers to answer the door, and the only reason he was still wearing them was his rule about wearing something that fully covered the genitals at the table, which was the same reason that Loki, too, had donned trousers. (Loki had thought to mess with him by wearing a short skirt at the table, back when the rule was just 'some form of clothing', but Thomas had countered by sticking his fork between his toes and running it lightly along Loki's inner thighs, getting ever closer to his privates, until Loki had given in and changed the skirt into trousers. Needless to say, Loki learned pretty quickly not to argue semantics when it came to Thomas' few house rules.) 

Loki eyed his food suspiciously and poked at it with the fork he'd set out with water for both of them while Thomas had been answering the door. He'd never tried this particular brand of ethnic food before, but Thomas had sworn it was delicious. He _hadn't_ said it looked unappetising. 

"It's not going to bite you," Thomas commented drily before taking a bite of his. He waited until Loki had a bite and was mulling over the taste before asking, "Did Odin try locking you up?" 

"Odin's dead," Loki muttered, shoving his fork into the food to fill it for a second bite. "Thanos got him out of the way first. Smart." 

Thomas sighed and rubbed his foot along Loki's leg. "Did Thor, then?" 

Loki took his time chewing, trying to decide how much he wanted to explain to Thomas right that moment. He didn't doubt for a second that Thomas would have him spilling everything within a week, assuming he didn't just figure it out by tracing Loki's most minute expressions with his fingers – or however he always so accurately managed to read Loki's thoughts – so the question was less 'how much do I want to tell Thomas?' and more 'how slowly do I want to tell Thomas everything?'

"No," he said at last. "Thor pardoned me of all my crimes and offered to make me both his Head Advisor and the Crown Prince. Which I'd have to be anyway. At least until his son is old enough to take the throne." 

Thomas looked up in honest surprise at the last. "Thor has a son? When did that happen?" 

Loki shrugged. "He was born while we were at war, so sometime within the past thirty-two months, I would assume." 

"You were only gone two years," Thomas pointed out. "Well, two years, three months, and–"

"Were you timing me?" Loki wondered, earning him a sheepish smile. He shook his head. " _I_ was gone two years, but I wasn't called in at the very start. They'd already been fighting for a bit over six months by the time I arrived." 

"Poor Jane," Thomas murmured. When Loki raised an eyebrow at him, Thomas sighed and explained, "Not only was she missing Thor for almost three years, but she was pregnant, gave birth, and had to care for their child without him during that time." 

"You make that sound like such difficulty," Loki muttered. 

Thomas caught his wrist and gave him a sharp look. "Isn't it?" 

Thomas knew about Sleipnir. About how Loki had struggled through the pregnancy and birth on his own, then had to stay in the woods until his son could manage his eight legs well enough to hold his own against even the most careless of stable hands. About how hurt Loki had been to find out his family had brushed off his disappearance as a prank, and only Frigga had asked how he was after he got back. 

Loki looked away and swallowed. "She was worried because he was developing unusually, by human standards. I soothed her fears." 

Thomas rubbed his hand over Loki's arm. "So you saw him before you left. Is he cute? What's his name?" 

Loki glanced at his mortal. "Magni looks about how you'd expect any human child of about eighteen months to look." 

"But he's not eighteen months." 

"No." 

Thomas sighed and pulled Loki's hand over so he could kiss his knuckles. "I'm sure you were insufferable while doing so, but I'm proud of you for making her feel better." 

Loki didn't bother hiding his smile. 

Thomas smiled back and kissed his knuckles again before letting go so he could return to his food. "So Thor pardoned you," he prodded before taking another bite. 

Loki sighed and poked at his food. "He got me to tell him of your existence." 

"Selfish," Thomas accused. 

Loki snorted. "You knew that before we even _met_."

"I did," Thomas admitted, smiling faintly. "You told him you were returning to me, so he asked you to watch Asgard while he checked on Jane and Magni. Didn't he?" 

"Collected them," Loki corrected before resolutely setting his fork down and putting his hands in his lap. "Dr Banner found a way to extend a mortal lifespan to match ours." 

Thomas fell very, very still. Loki could practically _hear_ him turning the sentence over in his head, analysing each nuance of Loki's tone as he spoke, trying to determine _why_ this fact had him so down. 

At last, he set his own fork down and turned to stare at Loki. "I have three questions you need to answer." 

Loki swallowed and nodded. 

Thomas held up three fingers. He brought one down as he asked each question, "Why are you not more excited about this? Why didn't you ask Thor to bring you a copy of this solution? And how long have you been pretending I'm not mortal?" 

Loki winced at that last question. It really shouldn't have surprised him that Thomas had caught that fact, but it sort of did. Damn the human for his perceptiveness, anyway. "The entire time," he admitted to the last. 

Thomas sighed and leaned over the corner to the table towards him. "Kiss before I give in to the urge to hit you." 

Loki grimaced and leaned over for a quick kiss, then sighed when Thomas gently smacked his shoulder anyway. "Would _you_ have wanted to think about it?" he requested. 

Thomas rubbed at his face. "Dammit, Loki. How could I _not_? I _know_ what's going to happen when I die. You're going to go back to Asgard and pretend you're okay, until something finally pushes you too far and you snap like you did _last time_. People are going to die, and no one will know what's hurt you so much, because you'll never have told anyone what you lost." He glanced up and met Loki's eyes, his expression tired and a little broken. "I won't be there to put you back together," he whispered. 

Loki shoved out of his seat and rounded the corner of the table so he could hug his mortal. Thomas and his giant heart, ever thinking of the pain Loki was trying to pretend would never come. Always trying to bear some of Loki's suffering, as though to make up for all of the things he'd never been able to – never _would_ be able to – save Loki from. "Idiot," he whispered into Thomas' curls. 

Thomas reached up and dug surprisingly sharp nails into Loki's back, punishing him for his own stupidity while also demanding he stay where he was. " _You're_ an idiot," he muttered against Loki's sternum. 

Loki didn't bother attempting to deny that, just slowly slid down until he was kneeling in front of the human, tracing the runes of Thomas' name against his bare skin. 

Thomas tugged lightly on Loki's hair. "Why didn't you ask Thor for some?" 

Loki flattened his hand against Thomas' abdomen, feeling the warmth of him. "I wasn't sure you'd agree to take it." 

Thomas sighed and tugged up on Loki's hair. "Get up. Come on." 

Loki did so a little suspiciously. He'd expected Thomas to hit him again, honestly, or dig his nails into his shoulders. 

"Please put the food away," Thomas requested as he led Loki from the kitchen. 

Loki obediently set his magic to the task, keeping quiet as they climbed upstairs and stepped into the bedroom. There, Loki vanished his trousers and climbed onto the bed without having to be told, the familiarity of Thomas leading him to the bedroom when he'd said something the human didn't agree with or approve of leading him to act without question. 

"On your front," Thomas said as he removed his own trousers. 

Loki did so, hands curling comfortably around the headboard of the bed and legs falling open for Thomas to kneel between them as he climbed onto the bed. 

Thomas popped open a bottle, and Loki glanced back over his shoulder to see him pouring some of the oil within into one cupped palm. Once the bottle was closed and set aside, he rubbed his hands together, spreading the oil between them, then started massaging the muscles of Loki's upper back, giving no quarter against the tension there. 

As Loki started to relax, and Thomas moved down his back, the mortal said, "Explain this to me." 

Loki couldn't help but tense, and Thomas smacked him for it. Loki forced himself to relax and closed his eyes. "You know why," he muttered, because Thomas _always_ knew. Minute expressions. 

Thomas hummed, thumbs pushing almost hard enough to hurt as he attacked a muscle in Loki's lower back. "Pretend I don't." 

Loki grimaced, but obediently explained, "Your family is here, and your friends. You would never want to leave them forever, not for– _Ah_!" he cried out as Thomas roughly shoved two fingers into his anus. 

"Don't you _dare_ finish that thought," Thomas snapped, and when Loki glanced back at him, he could see the anger and grief writ across his face, plain as day. "Don't you _dare_ think me so cruel." 

Loki looked away. "What's cruel about wanting to live with your family?" he whispered. Oh, what he wouldn't have given for another thousand years with Mother. 

Thomas' forehead pressed between Loki's shoulder blades, curls tickling his nape. "God, Loki. You always do this. You always somehow decide you're less important to me, just because we're not...what?" He slipped a third finger into Loki, making the god grunt in surprise. "Not related by blood? Not the same species?" He withdrew his fingers and pulled back. "Turn over." 

Uncertainly, Loki did so, taking care to keep from hitting Thomas with one of his legs, and only letting go of the headboard long enough to untwist his arms. He glanced up at Thomas, and while there was still anger on his face, the grief had been replaced with hurt, and Loki looked away, shame filling him. 

Thomas leaned over him, one hand catching his chin and forcing Loki's head around. "Look at me," he ordered, and Loki opened eyes he really didn't remember closing. There was a hardness in Thomas' eyes, hidden beneath the anger and the hurt. A reminder that Loki's human wasn't so easily turned away by his reticence. 

Loki felt bare underneath that stare, stripped of skin and muscle and bone, until all that was left of him were the half-repaired shatters of his long-ruined heart. Those repairs had all been Thomas' doing, and here he was again, attempting to piece them back together with gentle hands and infinite patience. With an unblinking stare that Loki could never disbelieve. 

_'The eyes are the window to the soul,'_ Thomas sometimes said, and Loki couldn't help but believe him. 

Loki took the moment of Thomas entering him, slow and patient, as an excuse to look away. Head thrown back, whole body tensing at the unexpectedness of it, then loosening, welcoming what it had been missing for two years. What Loki needed more than he'd let himself admit. "Please," he gasped, wanting Thomas fast and slow and hard and gentle all at once. 

Thomas bottomed out, hands splayed against Loki's chest and hip. "I love you," he whispered against Loki's chin, and the god couldn't help but whimper at the simple truth in those words. "I love you so _fucking_ much." His hand clenched tight around Loki's hip as he gave a brutal thrust, lighting Loki's nerves with pleasure and a silent scream of victory. 

But Thomas didn't keep up the rough pace, went gentle and loving, his long fingers soothing where they'd tightened mere moments before. "Loki," he breathed against Loki's throat, pressing gentle kisses into the skin there. "Love of my life. You're _everything_ to me." 

Loki let out a sob and tightened his grip on the headboard. He wanted to touch Thomas, to map out the marks mortality had left in his skin. But he knew better than to give in to that temptation. Knew that as soon as he touched the actor, he would want to take control, would want to flip them over and just take and take and take. 

This was Thomas' rule: _If you can't give me control, you can't touch me at all._ And, Norns, how it _burned_ to follow it. 

The hand on Loki's chest moved to pull his chin down, giving Thomas access to the tears Loki was trying to keep in. The actor kissed them away, lips gentle against Loki's eyelashes, and the god let out a whine and finally let a tear fall. Thomas licked it up without a word, then pressed their foreheads together. "Look at me," he ordered. 

Loki did, tears falling free as he opened his eyes to meet that blue stare, so full of love, the anger and hurt thrown aside. "Thomas," he whispered, helpless before this man. 

"You told me, before you left," Thomas whispered back, body falling still to ensure Loki's attention, "that you would die to keep me safe." 

Loki let out a whimper and nodded; he had, yes, and Thomas had been furious with him for reasons Loki was pretty sure he would never understand. 

Thomas closed his eyes, hiding whatever emotion he couldn't keep from showing. "I would live for you," he breathed, and his eyes opened to show determination and love and just a hint of regret. 

Thomas would live forever, just to keep Loki in one piece. 

"Please," Loki gasped, bucking his hips. 

Thomas tightened his hand on Loki's hip, warning him to keep still. "You're going back and getting this immortality from Thor." 

Loki shook his head. "I _can't_ ," he gasped, fighting to hold still. 

Thomas' hand on his chin tightened, his eyes narrowing. " _Loki_ ," he said, voice low. 

Loki closed his eyes. "Your Yggdrasil can't handle that much travel," he got out in a rush. "If I go back now, I can't promise I'll be able to return." 

Thomas curled his head down, resting it over Loki's heart. "So it's all or nothing," he whispered. 

"I'm sorry," Loki breathed, because he was. He should have swallowed his pride and his uncertainty and asked Thor for the potion. He should have let Thomas decide, instead of just assuming. He should have had more faith in his lover's ridiculously massive heart. 

And he called _Thor_ an idiot. 

Loki let out a cry that was edging on a scream when Thomas started fucking him, hard and fast, nails digging into the skin of his hips, where they were clenching hard enough to bruise even Loki's tough skin. He threw his head back again, baring his throat for the angry bites he knew would come, accepting this punishment without complaint, only letting free whimpers and cries and half-voiced pleas for more. 

Thomas came with a snarl, biting Loki's collar hard enough to draw blood. When he realised Loki hadn't come, he wrapped a hand rough with calluses around his cock. The handjob edged on too painful, but it was exactly what Loki needed and he came with a cry, clenching his hands so tightly against the headboard, he swore he heard something crack. 

They held still for a long moment, Loki refusing to look at Thomas, though he could feel the blue gaze burning against the side of his face. At last, Thomas collapsed on top of him, kissing the bloodstain that was the only mark of his bite, Loki's skin having already healed. "Dammit, Loki," he whispered. 

Loki finally let go of the headboard to wrap his arms around the human, closing his eyes and breathing him in, trying not to think about lost chances. 

Thomas sighed and leaned up to hover over Loki, holding still until Loki finally, reluctantly, opened his eyes and met the calm stare. "I suppose," the human said, "that we have some packing to do, and goodbyes to give." 

"I hate you so much," Loki choked out, unable to keep more tears from falling. 

Thomas smiled, knowing the lie for what it was. 

-0-

"I'd like to be angry with you, but I really can't be," Emma said as she balanced on the arm of the chair Loki had curled up in. Thomas had insisted on the going away party, saying there was no way he could just leave without one and, yes, Loki had to attend. So far, no one had really approached him, though he'd been thrown more than a few frowns; of course everyone would assume Loki was forcing Thomas to leave with him. 

Loki didn't glance up at Emma until a plastic cup of alcoholic punch was held out in front of him. "Do feel free to expound upon that," he commented drily as he accepted the drink. 

She wasn't watching him, but the crowd of people wandering around by the food, talking to Thomas or each other. "He's happier with you." 

Loki grunted, unwilling to debate Thomas' happiness levels with his sister. 

Emma glanced down at him, then, a smile tugging at her lips. "God alone knows why, however, considering you're always such a bundle of gloom." 

Loki scowled. "I am _not_. I'm happy." 

Emma gently shoved at his shoulder. "Yeah? Then why are you sitting over here, glaring at anyone who so much as glances your way?" 

Loki snorted. " _Glances_ ," he said. "More like disapproving _glares_. Everyone here knows it's my fault Thomas is leaving." 

Emma groaned and made an obvious shift of her body, showing her intention to drop into Loki's lap, but waiting for his permission. He held his drink out of the way and caught her when she dropped down, her cup just empty enough that it didn't slosh over the side at the upset. "I can't tell, sometimes," she confessed, "whether you're putting yourself down, or acting like you're a god." 

"I _am_ a god," Loki insisted, the familiar line slipping out before he could consider it. 

Emma levelled an unimpressed stare at him. "Does that _ever_ get old?" 

"Not yet." 

Emma rolled her eyes at him, then stuck her tongue out at where Thomas was watching them with a fond smile and one eyebrow raised. He responded by shaking his head and toasting them with his cup, then turned away to respond to someone who was talking to him. 

"I wonder how many of Thomas' guests now believe I'm fucking you both?" Loki mused, sipping at his punch. 

"Oh, let's be honest here. You're not fucking anyone," Emma retorted. 

Loki snorted. "Not many people would believe that." 

"True enough," Emma admitted, shifting in his lap so she was more comfortable. "Seriously, though. What makes you think anyone here believes you had anything more to do with Tom's choice than offering it to him?" 

"Given the portrayal of me in your films, I'd be surprised if they didn't." 

Emma groaned again. "Oh my God. Loki. Be honest. There is no way in _hell_ you'd have let Tom throw a going away party if you had _any_ control in this relationship." 

Loki very carefully didn't wince. 

Emma rolled her eyes and poked him in the chest. "Get up and come over to talk with people, you anti-social tit. You can at least _pretend_ you're happy that Tom's coming with you." 

Loki grabbed her around the waist before she could climb out of his lap, hissing, "Do not think, for one moment, that I am _happy_ to be taking your brother away from you." 

"Did I say that?" Emma hissed back, eyes narrowed. "Is _that_ your problem? Are you _honestly_ sitting over here, avoiding causing mischief, because you're _sorry_ my brother put you first? Oh my _God_ , Loki!" 

The room fell silent at her outburst and everyone looked over at them. "What's he done?" Thomas requested mildly, though a hint of exhaustion in his eyes suggested he knew _exactly_ why Emma was angry. 

"Tom, your boyfriend is a fucking _moron_ ," Emma snapped, tugging on the arm still around her waist. "And if he doesn't let me go _right now_ , I am dumping punch on his head." 

Loki immediately let her go, certain she'd hold true to her threat otherwise. When she scrambled to her feet and then upturned her cup over his head anyway, he really wasn't that surprised. "And people wonder why I never trust their word," he muttered, flicking his hand to dry himself. He heard a couple of people let out surprised noises and rolled his eyes; everyone here knew who he was, though he supposed not all of them had seen him perform magic before. 

"Get up, right now, and socialise," Emma ordered. 

Loki raised an eyebrow at her. "And if I don't wish to?" he enquired lightly, pitching his voice low to keep it from travelling to their audience, most of whom were still watching their unfolding drama. 

Emma leaned in, her eyes uncannily similar to Thomas' when they were furious. "You want me angry at you?" she hissed. "You are _ruining_ my brother's goodbye party. Get up, act happy, and stop _wallowing_ in your own issues." Then she spun away and stalked over to where Diana was watching them with a worried frown. 

Loki rubbed a hand down his face, then pushed himself out of the chair and made his way over to where Thomas was holding out a hand to him. 

"Did she yell at you because you were blaming yourself?" Thomas murmured as Loki pressed against his side. 

"I will never understand your race," Loki complained. 

Thomas chuckled and kissed his cheek. "Luckily, you don't have to." He squeezed Loki's hip. "Go make trouble somewhere. I guarantee half the people here are nervous because nothing's blown up yet." 

"And the other half?" Loki wondered as he pulled away. 

"We're just waiting for the show," Thomas replied, quiet enough that Loki almost didn't hear him. 

But hear him Loki did, and he couldn't help but smirk at the permission to make a massive mess. 

-0-

"Hey, Loki?" Thomas called after the party, an odd note in his voice. He'd gone upstairs to pack a few more things – Loki had put a limit on the amount of stuff they could take back to Asgard, but his magic made that limit a far larger one than Thor would have given Jane – while Loki was cleaning up the mess from the party. 

Loki glanced up from the blackened and dented wall he was in the middle of fixing. "Yes?" 

"Did you bring something back from Asgard?" 

Loki frowned and left the wall to start up the stairs. "Bring something back?" he repeated. "Just my clothing. Why?" 

Thomas was standing over the bed, Loki's leathers dropped carelessly onto the quilt. He was holding a glass vial in one hand, a folded piece of notebook paper in the other. He looked up when Loki entered and held out the note. "It was in your pocket." 

Loki took it with a confused frown and opened it. The missive was written in the native Æsir language – as there wasn't a written form of AllSpeak – and while he'd taught Thomas some of the language, he'd done so using the Roman letters the human was used to, rather than the runes this was written in. "This is Thor's handwriting," he murmured, recognising well the rough edges his brother always left, his hands unfamiliar with holding a writing implement. 

_'Loki,'_ the letter started, _'You often call me a fool, but I think you'll find I'm not quite so dull as you like to mock. I know you, Brother, and I know when you're not saying something. For once, I think I know what you wouldn't say._  
 _'This vial contains Bruce's potion. It is enough for one mortal, and he's assured me it will keep for a few years, in case you are as evasive with your Thomas as you are with everyone else. Do recall, however, that you will need to fix any mistakes I make while you're gone, Head Advisor.'_  


"This is Dr Banner's immortality potion, isn't it?" Thomas guessed while Loki stared at the letter with disbelief. Thor had _known_?

"It is," he croaked. 

"Thor gave it to you." 

Loki looked up at Thomas then, reading the resigned amusement colouring his eyes. "He is, perhaps, not quite so daft any more." 

Thomas snorted and wiggled the vial between them. "Should I take this now?" 

Loki almost said yes before recalling Thor's cautions. "There may be some side effects," he offered carefully. 

Thomas considered that for a moment, eyeing the potion. "What sorts of side effects?" he asked. 

"A little memory loss, some minor illness, and inability to produce children." He shook his head when Thomas' eyebrows drew together, knowing how much the human wanted children. They had discussed, before the war, of adopting, or Loki changing genders and carrying their child himself (though he was less fond of that last), but had never made concrete plans one way or the other. "I can fix the last, if that is what you wish. Very likely, I can manage the memory loss and illness, too," he added. 

Thomas took a deep breath and nodded. "Good enough for me," he decided and pulled out the stopper before quickly swallowing the potion. 

Loki dropped Thor's note and caught Thomas as the human gagged, magic already seeking out any damage and working to fix it before it could leave permanent marks. 

Thomas curled against Loki's chest, hands clutching at his shirt. "Oh, God, that was disgusting," he complained. 

Loki breathed out a laugh. "Do you remember who I am?" he asked, because it seemed like an important question. (And it would be just his luck that the potion would erase _him_ from Thomas' memories.) 

"My emotionally impaired lover," Thomas was quick to retort. 

Loki laughed to hide his relief, though he didn't doubt for a moment that Thomas noticed it anyway. 

Thomas let out a groan, silencing Loki. "Shit. Now I have to tell everyone we're _not_ leaving." 

Loki snorted. "Not right this moment, at least. As Thor pointed out, I'll have to soothe over all the feathers he ruffles while I'm away." 

Thomas snickered and raised his head to kiss Loki's jaw before pulling away. "After Emma gets married," he promised. 

Loki let out an exaggerated groan. "The Nine Realms will have fallen to pieces by then!" He caught Thomas around the waist as the human tried to slip past him. "You can wait until tomorrow to tell everyone we're not leaving." 

"I need to clean out my mouth," Thomas returned. 

Loki leaned in and whispered, "I can fix that," against his lips before kissing him, using magic to freshen his breath. 

Thomas groaned into the kiss, one hand catching in Loki's hair, the other going to his waist and pulling them flush. "We never finished rechristening the house," he breathed after pulling back just enough to unlock their mouths. 

"Very true," Loki agreed. "I wonder if your libido has increased." 

Thomas huffed out a laugh. "Only one way to find out." 

As it turned out, it had.

..


End file.
